The Best Apple I Ever Ate

Dear readers,

The other week, I had the best apple of my life. Up until this point, the apple I ate at 13,000 ft on Mt. Beirdstadt was the best. Now, it falls to second.

It was a bright, cold Saturday afternoon. I careened through the January slush to my favorite farmer's market, the one at Clark Park. The farmer's were still there, stamping their feet and warming their hands . Kudos, farmers. (Some of you may be thinking, 'uh, stupid, farmers - that's why we invented "the store" and "the HVAC system".' I suppose one could debate about the validity of creature comforts for awhile.) Anyway, I knew I didn't have much cash so I skipped straight for the apple table. Picked out three 'York' apples - my favorite of the season- and put them on the scale to pay. Shoved my hand in my pocket for some dollar bills. Nope, not in that pocket. In my bag? Nope. Wait, I could've sworn I put that $7 in my pocket. I left my wallet at home. Ugh, what? No money, really?

I looked up at the Amish woman behind the scale to apologize and express my disappointment. In her genial Pennsylvania Dutch accent, she says, "oh, go on an take 'em anyway." My eyebrows shot up. I protested meekly. She insisted, "It's only three apples, anyway."

I thanked her energetically and hurried off with my treasures. Three free apples! Three free delicious organic local apples.

Now picture this scenario: You're in the checkout lane of Acme, SuperFresh, Kroger, Whole Foods... you're fumbling for your money. You look desperate. "Can I please just take these apples? I was really hoping to buy these apples today, but I forgot my money. Please." Now picture the look on the cashier's face.

These apples weren't good just because they were free. They were good because I figure that woman has something to do with the picking of the apples, and she has much more authority to decide if giving away some free apples is okay. Compare her to the cashier who just knows the prices of food.. the cashier who works for the supermarket because they need a job... the supermarket that employes many many people who know relatively nothing about what they are selling.. the supermarket that orders produce through a computer system... some corporate point person has a relationship with the farmer no doubt, but it's probably only on paper. The link between the cashier and the apple is about as long the railway between Pennsylvania and California. While both the Amish farmers and the Supermarkets need to make a profit to stay alive, at least the farmer sells with some credibility.

All this aside, it was a gentle reminder that paying for the real cost of food (paying more for local and organic things) has its perks. Like getting free apples on Saturday morning.

Rothikan Pancakes

Buttermilk pancakes with an egg in the middle and fresh mint orange refresher

The night before, I swore we would all go to The Morning Glory diner down the street from my apartment. I rallied the crowd, telling them it would be a bomb diggity breakfast after a longish night. Well, the next morning I woke up with a desire to cook and save some $ bills.

The idea for breakfast was organically conceived, I swear. No pigs in blankets, and no eggs in baskets. In my defense, I didn't even know that was a 'thing' when I first made the egg in pancake deal. I don't even have a name for it. I should... like... "sun in a cloud" cakes. No. In my receipie book they are "Rothikan Pancakes", which is an utterly fantastic name that was born only after serious consideration on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Buttermilk pancakes can be fluffy and light if you do it right. The secret? Do you want to know the see-cer-ret? Make the batter a little while before you serve (like 20 minutes). Leave the batter to rest in the fridge while you do other stuff. It will puff for you like an angel. My guess is that the gluten in the flour has a chance to relax so that when you put the batter on a hot griddle/pan the carbon dioxide bubbles from the Baking Powder have a more pronounced effect on the pancake. However, only do this if there's Baking POWDER in the batter. Baking soda's ability to leven a substance declines very soon after mixing (in other words, bake right away). However, baking powder has a double rise effect that will activate when heat is applied. I'm sure Alton Brown has a more detailed explanation... delivered in perfect diction and at hyperspeed.

While the batter was sitting, I peeled the first blood orange of my life. It was a little creepy... those tiny cellular sacs filled with blood-red juice. I think I yelped. 2 1/2 of those into the blender with about 11 big ice cubes and a handful of fresh mint. I hate to honk my own horn but it was pretty refreshing.

Pancakes:

• 2 cups flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 Tbs sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3 cups buttermilk
• extra eggs for the "sun"

1. Combine all the dry ingredients (flour, BP, sugar, salt)
2. Combine eggs and buttermilk in mixer
3. Add dry to wet ingredients gradually and stir slowly
4. Heat griddle or pan on medium high heat

If you want to put the "sun in the cloud" follow the following:

1. Pour about a half cup of batter onto a warm griddle or pan (coat with something fatty like non-stick spray or butter
2. flip
3. Immediately use a spoon to cut out a small hole from the cake
Turn the heat to medium, crack the egg in the hole
4. Let it sit for a few moments, turn the heat down to medium-low
5. Cook for a couple of minutes on this side till the bottom of the egg cooks
6. Using two spatulas (one underneath the cake and one on top of the egg), flip the cake trying to keep the egg in place while flipping. Gather your wits, and do it quickly. I should have taken a picture of this for demonstration purposes.
7. Let it cook on this side for a few more minutes. Keep the heat low so you don't burn the cake while you're waiting for the egg to cook. Tip: I think it's way better if you keep the yoke runny.





Here's one last hint: if you're making lots of cakes, you might need to rinse the pan down inbetween say your 4th and 5th cakes. The pan usually gets too hot over time, oil burns and smokes, leftover pancake jiblets get burned, etc, etc. This makes the new cakes burn without fail, booooo. So if you 'wash' the pan occasionally, it solves this problem.

Sun in the cloud pancakes with iced mint blood orange juice on the side. That's a damned mouthful. Literally. Rothikan Cakes anyone?

Pop Your Own Corn (with sweet ginger recipe)

So uh, I know all you avid 'small tomatoes' readers have wondered if I just dropped this blog altogether. Right. Well, I did not, and after a long hiatus (during which I thought I was going to publish a new Small Tomatoes web page during the very hectic weeks surrounding the holidays) I'm back to recommend popping your own corn. That's right, enough of that convenient bag of magic that contains kernels covered in fake buttery powder stuff! Break out your biggest pot with a lid! Give "Whole Grain Popcorn, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Salt, Butter (Cream, Milk, Salt), Natural & Artificial Flavor, Color Added. Freshness Preserved By Propyl Gallate." a run for its money!!

First of all... corn is a WHOLE grain, literally. It's not chopped up, or processed. So the "Whole Grain Popcorn" part really cracks me up. Way to jump on the bandwagon you were already on, Popsecret.

I'm just gonna skip past the partially hydrogenated whatevers and the artificial yada yada yadas. Don't want to ruin a good rant by doing it all the time.

But listen, even though you might not believe it, plain pop corn is amazing if done right. The most fun thing about this is that you can get creative with flavors. You are NO LONGER limited to butter flavor! Cheese, chocolate, spicy, peppery, honey, and much more are all experiments meant to be tried. With no further yaking, here are some directions and suggestions.

THIS is a naked kernel. Waiting to be popped. You can buy plain kernels at some grocery stores. Try Whole Foods.

At the very least, you will need

• 1/2 kernels
• ~1-2tbs of canola, grapeseed, or peanut oil (oils with high smoke points)
• a large pot with a lid

To experiment with the recipe I'll list, you'll need

• 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 3 pinches paprika (I used sweet Hungarian paprika)
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper

Put the pot on the stove, heat the oil. If you're going to make my sweet ginger popcorn, put the spices and ginger in the oil. Put in 3 kernels, and put the lid on the pot. If you don't, the corn WILL pop out. I did that once...it was fun, but inefficient.

When the 3 kernels pop, take the pot off the stove. Add all the kernels in a somewhat even layer. Put the pot back on the heat. When it all starts popping, crack the lid, and shake the pot gently. This will let the steam escape, and keep the kernels from burning, respectively.

Once the popping slows (about 2 seconds between pops), take it off the heat, pour into a big bowl, and stir. This will help coat the popped corn with the spices and/or oil. If you made plain popcorn, add whatever you think would be good! If you made the sweet ginger popcorn, notice the slightly spicy flavors from the cayenne and ginger, and the sweetness from the paprika. NO salt necessary.

Hint: don't oils other than the ones listed. It'll either burn or make the popcorn taste bad. Also, the sage and parmesan combo isn't good. Check that one off your list... I already tried it.